Taliban are no longer relying primarily on censorship and violence to control Afghanistan’s media landscape, but instead are engaging in systematic manipulation of private media for state propaganda, according to a new report from Nai in Exile, a media advocacy group formerly based in Kabul.
In an assessment released Thursday, the organization said it had found that the Taliban have transformed independent radio, television, and news agencies into instruments for disseminating official narratives — not through overt shutdowns or bans, but through “targeted exploitation” of editorial content and newsroom operations.
“The Taliban are not merely silencing the media,” the report states. “They are using them — coercively and systematically — as tools for political messaging, indistinguishable in function from state-run outlets.”
Drawing on secondary sources and testimonies, Nai in Exile said that many private media outlets now broadcast Taliban messaging at levels surpassing even state-run broadcasters such as Bakhtar News Agency and RTA (Radio Television Afghanistan). The group attributes this trend to a mix of fear, opportunism, financial dependence, and in some cases, ethnic and ideological alignment with the ruling authorities.
The report notes that no content is currently allowed to air without Taliban approval, and any material deemed contrary to the group’s interests is strictly banned. Editors and producers are required to clear programming in advance, and journalists must adhere to specific forms of address when referring to Taliban figures — such as using the title “Hafizullah” for the group’s leader, “Khalifa” for commanders, and “martyr” for fighters killed in previous conflicts.
“This is more than censorship — it is editorial occupation,” said the organization, which relocated after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 and now monitors press freedom from abroad.
The report also warns that the Taliban are weaponizing media content to instill fear and control public perception, using outlets to broadcast military demonstrations, suicide bomb-making footage, and forced confessions from journalists, civil society activists, and ordinary citizens.
Nai in Exile expressed deep concern over the future of independent journalism in Afghanistan, warning that the longer this media environment persists, the more irreparably damaged the credibility of private media will become — both in the eyes of the public and in the context of any future transition of power.
“If this situation continues,” the report says, “the legitimacy of private media — especially in a post-Taliban era — will be severely undermined.”
The findings come amid broader fears among Afghan and international rights groups that press freedom in the country is nearing total collapse, with dozens of journalists detained, exiled, or driven out of the profession entirely since the Taliban takeover.
